Welcome to the Eco Team Home Page

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Once again, St. Bernard of Clairvaux has achieved Gold status as a certified Ontario EcoSchools this past June 2018! Congratulations to the entire school as this was a community effort with everyone doing their own part! Way to go St. Bernard!

As a whole school community, we hope to continue to build upon the work of the past years and strive to reach Gold status once again for the 2019-2020 recertification year.

For more information about the program please visit:  https://ecoschools.ca/

Ongoing School Campaigns 

Re-useable and Re-fillable bottle Campaign

Our annual ongoing campaign focusses on reminding students to bring drinks for snacks and lunch in a re-useable and re-fillable bottle or container in order to further reduce the number of juice boxes, tetra packs, and disposable water bottles being thrown out each day. Our Eco Team Class Reps will encourage the use of re-useable/re-fillable bottles brought to school each day. We are hoping for 100% participation!  

Boomerang Lunches

As a part of our growing commitment to being Stewards of the Earth, we are moving forward with some new initiatives this school year. In the past, we have encouraged "Litter-less Lunches" at school and we thank the community for being mindful of packing re-useable drink bottles and containers. However, like many schools in Ontario, we will be moving toward Boomerang Lunches as a way to make a difference for our environment.

Litter-less Lunches vs. Boomerang Lunch Programs

• A Litter-less Lunch is one where all the lunch gear is re-useable from the washable cloth napkins to the refillable juice box container. It is a planet-friendly way to pack your child's lunch, as it doesn't produce the daily trash of single-use items.

• A Boomerang Lunch is a program where students are asked to bring all the garbage home from their lunches. This includes all packaging and food waste. Since many schools, including ours, aren't set up to sort organic matter or even recycle as fully as we can at home, the garbage can be disposed of in a more environmentally friendly manner.

By initiating a Waste-Free, Boomerang Lunch Program, the school and families can work together to support the environment. It significantly reduces food and packaging waste. The purpose of a Boomerang Lunch is not to transfer trash disposal responsibilities from the school to home. An important objective of the program is to encourage parents and students to review and think about the way they prepare and package lunch foods. Most lunch trash comes from disposable packaging of single-use containers and food waste.

How do Boomerang Lunch Programs help families?

Perhaps your child never eats the grapes you send and always has half a sandwich left? Boomerang Lunch Programs help families save money by seeing which of the foods being sent each day are actually been eaten (or not). You'll also be able to cut down on your family's "avoidable food waste," food that is edible but is being thrown out. Drinks can be packed in re-sealable containers. Many students take sips and then don't want anymore. Since they cannot place it back in their lunch bag, they throw away a hardly used juice box. Cut sandwiches, fruits, and veggies into snack sized servings. This way if your child doesn't eat it all during lunch, they can have some easily available for last snack. Involve your child in packing their lunch. It's another way to grow their food literacy! Here are some helpful packing reminders. We thank you, in advance, for your continued support.

The Earth Thanks You!

Past Campaigns and Events

Eco Team Spring Garden Clean Up 

A special thanks to the Eco Gardening Team for all their work with our Spring Clean Up!

Earth Week Liturgy 

Our Earth Week liturgy reminded us to be good stewards of the earth!!! Thanks Eco Team members !!  

EcoTeam Book Swap 

St. Bernard of Clairvaux ECO Book Swap was a big success! Thank you to all Families for your donations.  Students walked away with a new favourite book and helped reduce, reuse and recycle!  Way to go Bears!